1 John 5:13

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I read this, and it sounds pretty Protestant. Can someone point me out to the Catholic position on this?

**I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. **

We are never supposed to ‘know’ we have eternal life. No one knows for sure…

Thanks in advance…
 
CSN said:
I read this, and it sounds pretty Protestant. Can someone point me out to the Catholic position on this?

**I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. **

We are never supposed to ‘know’ we have eternal life. No one knows for sure…

Thanks in advance…
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What you don’t know at the moment is what the state of your soul will be when you die.
However, you do know that if you die in a state of grace you will be saved.
 
It also confirms our nature as a spiritual being. We were created for God. We were meant for heaven, for eternal life with God who is love, truth and joy. Yet, we sinned and thus drew away from him.

This is where Jesus comes in.

Because of Christ, that eternal life is possible to us again - our dignity as man is reaffirmed and by our profession of faith it is confirmed and practiced. Thus when John says ’ I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.'

It means that through Christ, we can be with God. It means that our nature is now revealed to us: we are Man, and we are created for and by God. We have eternal life, because that destiny is ours, it is a gift given freely. Yet in order to receive this gift, that is something we must work towards, through faith, and through action (as faith is dead without works). Faith and action therefore, when it comes to belief is a twofold practice. It is by living the gospel and by living a life of love and prayer that we believe, and because of that belief, we have eternal life.

Hope that helps.
 
Well it may sound like I am giving a Catholic cliche, but we believe that we are saved, also that we are being saved, and we have the hope that we will be saved in the end. Past, present, and future. Eternal life begins at baptism but we are not free from the responsibility of living a Christian life.

St. Bede the Venerable says concerning this verse

“That you may know, he says, that you who believe in Christ may be sure of your future happiness, that you may not be led astray by the deception of those who deny that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore maintain that there will be no advantage for those who have believed in his name.”
 
Er, I have been reading your responses, but then today at mass (we had special readings this week), we had Romans 10, and 10:9-10 says

…for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved

This is exactly what protestants say. I read Jimmy Akin’s interpretation of Romans and Ephesians (catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9909chap.asp) and he pointed out that the verb tenses were different. But here → it is clearly future tense. You will be saved if you confess and believe that Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead.

This is starting to get frustrating.
 
We do **know **that we will have eternal life. The gospels are there to instruct us in that.It was common to think the soul died with the death of our bodies. One of Christs lessons is that it does not die. After earthly death we will have either an eternal life with God or an eternal life away from God. Heaven or Hell. Life in the beatific vision or life away from it.
 
CSN,
You must remember to interpret individual passages of Scripture in light of the entire body of both Sacred Scripture and Tradition. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus Himself says,
Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
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Regarding 1 John 5:13, Orchard’s “A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture” has this to say:
The purpose of the Epistle, like that of the Gospel, is to awaken in its readers a realization that a firm hope of attaining eternal life is theirs, because they believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
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The same thoughts apply to the passage from Romans, unless you are being troubled by the concept of Sola Fide in that case.

rocketrob
 
Just as rocketrob mentioned, you must take all the Scriptures into account and not keep your focus on one or two verses. That is why there are so many Protestant denominations, because every group of Protestants build their denomination on a limited portion of Scripture, while the Catholic Church has always taught the Faith based upon the whole Bible and the interpretation of it that has been passed down from the Apostles.

I can take the Bible and make it look as if faith lone saves you. I can also make it look as if repentance alone saves you, or Baptism, or the Eucharist, or confession, etc etc. I can go through and cherry pick the Bible and create my own twist like Protestants do. I can also make it look as if no-one will ever go to Hell by quoting the Bible like some Protestant denominations, and I can make it look as if only a few people will be saved period.

Below are some Bible passages that I could focus on while ignoring the others and I could create a doctrine that is contrary to the Faith that is handed down by the Apostles.

Saved by Faith
(Eph. 2:8-9)8 For by grace you are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God. 9 Not of works, that no man may glory.

Saved by Baptism
1Peter 3:21 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism which now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Saved by confession
1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Saved by Eucharist
“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

Saved by repentance
Luke 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
 
Copland is right. The Bible is a unified whole. What Jesus spoke, and the things the Apostles said, were directed at their hearers. Some needed to hear one thing, some another.

We have to bring it together and add it all up. Taking Copland’s quotes together, we have to believe, be baptized, confess, receive the Eucharist, and repent to be saved. There’s more.

Never let a verse or two, standing alone, shake your faith! 😃

God bless you,

Ruthie
 
Yes, thank you all for your responses… I was feeling a bit frustrated yesterday because of clear passages in the Bible that support the positions of certain hardcore protestants around me. But these responses have all helped.

Thank you…
 
CSN said:
I read this, and it sounds pretty Protestant. Can someone point me out to the Catholic position on this?

**I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. **

We are never supposed to ‘know’ we have eternal life. No one knows for sure…

Thanks in advance…
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It does sound very Protestant. Simply because the question ignores the 17 (or so) “if’s” that precede this statement in John’s Epistle. “IF” you are sure you’ve succeeded in the conditional statements, then you can be assured of eternal life.
 
Interesting. Thanks.

If anyone has any other advice, please advise…!!

🙂
 
I know this is a very old thread but it is all I could find from a Catholic source on this particular verse.

Well, I have been searching far and wide for a Catholic commentary on I John 5:13. I learned some links to some Catholic commentaries that I will go to, but so far what the original poster asked about has not been satisfacority address in my opinion.

I have been listening to a Protestant Creationist person who has done several videos about a young earth. He is also a “once saved, always saved” (doctrine of eternal security) Baptist.

13 These things I write to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, who believe in the name of the Son of God.

This well known Protestant evangelist presented his argument for eternal security thusly…

The verse says I HAVE eternal life. That is present tense. If I can lose eternal life, then it was not ETERNAL life. If it was only temporary then it was not eternal.

Now I know Catholic teaching pretty well, but I still think this and other verses in the bible speak of having eternal life or being saved in the present tense.

I just feel there needs to be a more thorough explanation of what exactly is meant when the verse says clearly that you HAVE eternal life.

I know the verse is not saying you are to know or to think you have eternal life because that is a good feeling to have. You should have a feeling of confidence in having been saved.

I guess I should buy the book by Robert Sungenis titled “Not by Fatih Alone”. He is likely able to address the real question here as posed by many “eternal security” type Protestants-- why does it use present tense – you HAVE eternal life?

“and the light shines on in the darkness and darkness could not overcome it.”

John 1:5 t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:8jDC8zuL5AvuQM:http://www.50statesclassifieds.com/uploadedimages/1481072DSC01779.JPG
 
Archie said:
13 These things I write to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, who believe in the name of the Son of God.

This well known Protestant evangelist presented his argument for eternal security thusly…

The verse says I HAVE eternal life. That is present tense. If I can lose eternal life, then it was not ETERNAL life. If it was only temporary then it was not eternal.
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I don’t agree with the preacher’s premise. If I HAVE Eternal Life, and I lose it, that does not mean it was not Eternal Life.

First of all, consider what “Eternal Life” is. “Eternal Life” is Jesus living within you. As long as He is with you, you will go to heaven. Reject Him, and He will prune you from the tree, as he explains in John’s Gospel. But, even though you lose Him, Jesus STILL IS Eternal Life, is he not?
 
NotWorthy said:
I don’t agree with the preacher’s premise. If I HAVE Eternal Life, and I lose it, that does not mean it was not Eternal Life.
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I agree with NotWorthy. The premise seems like a ‘straw man’ argument. I was going to say that if I have $5 and choose to spend or squander it, it doesn’t mean that it I didn’t have it at one time, that it was only a temporary loan, or that it was unreal ‘play’ money. But NotWorthy’s reply and quoted passage is better.

rocketrob
 
rocketrob said:
I agree with NotWorthy. The premise seems like a ‘straw man’ argument. I was going to say that if I have $5 and choose to spend or squander it, it doesn’t mean that it I didn’t have it at one time, that it was only a temporary loan, or that it was unreal ‘play’ money. But NotWorthy’s reply and quoted passage is better.

rocketrob
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Ditto on NotWorthy’s reply. Another thing about this is that you can’t isolate a single verse in Scripture, you have to view it in context. Read 1 Jn 5:10-12 to get a better idea of his intention. “Believing” is more than a one-time expression of faith; it carries on in the way we conduct ourselves and the choices we make through life.
 
Thank you for your responses. They all have something important to offer. I

“Eternal Life” is Jesus living within you.

“Believing” is more than a one-time expression of faith; it carries on in the way we conduct ourselves and the choices we make through life.

I was going to say that if I have $5 and choose to spend or squander it, it doesn’t mean that it I didn’t have it at one time, that it was only a temporary loan, or that it was unreal ‘play’ money.

I still have to study and think about this a bit more. I know that true “salvation” or the condition of being “saved” is always a future event for each of us.

I definitely believe the Church’s teaching on this matter, but I have seen about 8 New Testament verses quoted by others saying “he HATH eternal life” or something close to that.

So technically having “eternal life” is just being in the state of “sanctifying grace”. I do not believe Catholics are to say they are “saved” or that they have “eternal life” even if to the best of their knowledge they are in a state of sanctifying grace.

I still would like to study this more and get a more clear apologetic ready.

It is my understanding that Martin Luther set out on what he did because he demanded to have in his heart assurance of salvation. So he set about building a theology that he thought accomplished that.

Here are some other verses that use present tense or past tense giving at least the appearance of nonconditionality.

“He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE:… .” John 3:36

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH EVERLASTING LIFE,. . .” John 5:24

“Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and PRESERVED IN JESUS CHRIST, and called:” Jude 1

“Who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:5

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby YE ARE SEALED unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

God bless you all
 
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